Saudi bases open to US despite Hormuz operation disagreement: sources

RIYADH: US forces have access to Saudi airspace and bases despite being told not to use them for the now suspended operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, two Saudi sources told AFP on Friday.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced a pause in the two-day-old “Project Freedom” to guide ships through the Strait, after a flare-up with Iran strained a fragile ceasefire.

US media reports on Thursday said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi leader, talked directly to Trump and refused to let US forces use Saudi airspace and bases for the operation.

However, two informed Saudi sources on Friday said US access to Saudi airspace and bases continues for other uses.

“Saudi Arabia was against the operation because it felt it would just escalate the situation and would not work,” one of them told AFP.

On Friday morning, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Rayed Krimly said the kingdom “maintains its position supporting de-escalation and negotiations efforts”, in a post on social media.

The comments came as US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was still in place despite an Iranian attack on three American destroyers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US military said it carried out strikes on Iranian military targets in response, although Tehran charged that it was Washington that had initiated the exchange of fire.